Method for determining and evaluating removal methods and device for carrying out said method

ABSTRACT

In a method for determining and evaluating the most favorable mining process during the driving of tracks or tunnels, rock parameters such as the cube compressive strength, tenacity and brittleness are determined and stored in quantifiable form in a first method step. After this, environment-specific parameters such as ventilation, dedusting and rock securement parameters like the introduction of local concrete or the setting of anchors are determined and stored, whereupon operation-related costs such as availability, downtimes, time inputs, investment costs as well as expenditures involved in the logistics of different operating processes are queried in a further method step, whereby different mining processes are calculated and compared with one another as a function of the rock parameters while taking into account the environment-specific parameters, the rock securement parameters and the parameters relevant to operation cost structures.

[0001] The invention relates to a method for determining and evaluating the most favorable mining process during the driving of tracks or tunnels, and a device for carrying out said method.

[0002] When driving tunnels below ground, three different modes of procedure have basically belonged to the prior art. Besides the mechanical breaking out of a clear cross section through drifting by means of selective-cut heading machines and the mechanical drifting by means of tunnel-driving machines such as, for instance, hard-rock machines, shield tunneling machines and special devices by which the rock can be supported during working, such as, e.g., EPB shield machines, the mode of procedure by drilling and blasting constitutes another conventional option to drive below-ground tunnels or tracks. Those different modes of operation impose different requirements on the infrastructure and logistics, and the known processes are subject to a number of restrictions. In particular, the present limit value set for the use of selective-cut heading machines in terms of rock strength ranges between 100 and 150 MPa. When using tunnel-driving machines such as, for instance, heading and cutting machines for tunnels, the maximum workable rock strength presently ranges between about 200 MPa and 300 MPa. Another advance working machine, as a rule, applies the conventional procedure by drilling and blasting. Such a simple selection of the respectively suitable mining process as a function of the nature of the rock is, however, not suitable to sufficiently take into account other criteria that are decisive for an economic mode of operation. In order to enable the comparison of different advance working methods in economical terms, also the necessary logistics and, consequently, the investment input will be of relevance in addition to technical parameters such as, for instance, the nature of the rock. Furthermore, it has to be taken into consideration that advance working by drilling and blasting can, as a rule, be carried out only as a discontinuous method, such a method still having to comply with other compelling parameters delimiting the use of that method such as, for instance, ventilation, dedusting during drilling and blasting as well as rock securing measures.

[0003] Hence follows that, overall, no complete evaluation is readily feasible by the conventional estimates of the economy of the respective method(s) to be applied in each case.

[0004] The invention aims to provide a method of the initially defined kind, by which a number of additional parameters are detected and input in a suitable machine-readable form so as to obtain a complete evaluation that takes into account the respective marginal conditions and additional parameters by using a simple data processing plant. To solve this object, the method according to the invention essentially consists in that rock parameters such as the cube compressive strength, tenacity and brittleness are determined and stored in quantifiable form in a first method step, that environment-specific parameters such as ventilation, dedusting and rock securement parameters like the introduction of local concrete or the setting of anchors are determined and stored after this, and that operation-related costs such as availability, downtimes, time inputs, investment costs as well as expenditures involved in the logistics of different operating processes are queried in a further method step, whereby different mining processes are calculated and compared with one another as a function of said rock parameters while taking into account said environment-specific parameters, said rock securement parameters and the parameters relevant to operation cost structures.

[0005] As opposed to conventional approaches, the method according to the invention, thus, consists in the suitable subdivision of quantifiable quantities and hence offers the opportunity to not only compare individual parameters with one another, but use groups of parameters for the respective evaluation. To this end, it is essential that the rock parameters such as the cube compressive strength, tenacity and brittleness are acquired and stored in quantifiable form and as such constitute a first data set, and that further parameters are likewise determined and stored separately in groups in accordingly quantified forms. It is thus feasible to make project-related statements, whereby such project-related statements enable the individual parameters to be appropriately weighted, because the latter have been acquired separately and stored separately. The mode of operation proposed by the invention is, thus, not limited to directly comparing the technical parameters of different mining processes with one another, but allows for the drawing of global comparisons that are project-specific, such a global approach enabling also the separate consideration of parameters like investment inputs in specific modes of operation, the time required for the realization of a task and the costs involved per working unit and/or unit of volume. The number of acquisition steps required for the individual methods differing from one another and the respectively stored parameters can each be linked and associated with one another in a project-specific manner so as to enable statements that have hitherto not been possible through conventional approaches. It is, in particular, feasible to study the influence on various modes of operation, of individual ones of the detected parameters stored in quantified form so as to enable the posing of new questions and the achievement of an altogether new form of evaluation of the respectively most favorable mining process on the basis of the results from such comparative investigations under consideration of individual, isolated parameters.

[0006] Advantageously, the method according to the invention is carried out in a manner that the parameters are entered as quantified quantities per unit of time and per unit of volume, of the material to be worked, with the cutting or driving performance of the mining machine being particularly detected and stored in an especially advantageous manner.

[0007] The device according to the invention for carrying out said method is essentially characterized in that it includes a memory for pregiven parameters, an input mask into which the data characteristic of each individual case are entered, and a comparator which determines the suitable method by taking into account the characteristic curve fields of the individual pregiven parameters. Due to the determination and storage of the respectively characteristic parameters in quantified form in a manner separate from one another, as presupposed in the beginning, and the already indicated option to analyze the influence of individual ones of these parameters, the mode of procedure proposed by the invention provides the prerequisite to store characteristic curve fields in a manner that the application of the device according to the invention will immediately yield useful statements. Considering the characteristic curve fields of the individual, pregiven parameters, the comparator presupposed by the invention is, in fact, able to determine the respectively appropriate method, thus rendering feasible the initially presupposed global approach aimed for the correct determination and evaluation of the most favorable mining process. The number of the dependencies of differing parameters each taken into account in the individual characteristic curve fields may be increased at will and, in addition to environment-specific data and data characteristic of the time required to reach a desired goal, may also comprise limitations such as, for instance, environmental damage by the use of specific methods. In doing so, it is essential that the parameters can each be linked with one another individually for different evaluations in order to thereby enable an accordingly holistic view based on separate calculations of the individual dependencies. Such a holistic view naturally also encompasses questions regarding the haulage of worked material and the logistics related to such questions, the downtimes, possible working hours per day and walling work required to secure and support the rock until completion of the tunnel. Separately detectable and integratable into the calculation are, of course, also logistic data such as the required ventilation of the track and/or mine face and the selection of suitable extraction tools when choosing a certain mining process and, in particular, the selection of suitable cutters and favorable operating parameters like the rotation speed and the advance speed, as a function of the respectively selected other parameters. 

1-4. (Canceled).
 5. A method for determining and evaluating a most favorable mining process during driving of tracks or tunnels, comprising the steps of determining and storing in quantifiable form rock parameters; thereafter determining and storing environment-specific parameters, which comprise ventilation, dedusting, and rock securement parameters; and querying operation-related costs, wherein different mining processes are calculated and compared with one another as a function of said rock parameters while taking into account said environment-specific parameters, said rock securement parameters and parameters relevant to operation cost structures.
 6. A method according to claim 5, wherein said parameters are entered as quantified quantities per unit of time and per unit of volume of material to be worked.
 7. A method according to claim 6, wherein cutting performance of mining apparatus is detected and stored.
 8. A method according to claim 6, wherein driving performance of mining apparatus is detected and stored.
 9. A method according to claim 6, wherein cutting and driving performance of mining apparatus is detected and stored.
 10. A method according to claim 5, wherein said rock parameters comprise cube compressive strength, tenacity and brittleness.
 11. A method according to claim 5, wherein said rock securement parameters comprise introduction of local concrete and setting of anchors.
 12. A method according to claim 5, wherein said operation-related costs comprise availability, downtimes, time inputs, investment costs, and expenditures involved in logistics of different operating processes.
 13. A device for determining and evaluating a most favorable mining process during driving of tracks or tunnels, comprising means for determining and storing in quantifiable form rock parameters; means for thereafter determining and storing environment-specific parameters, which comprise ventilation, dedusting, and rock securement parameters; means for querying operation-related costs; a memory for pregiven parameters; an input mask into which data characteristic of each individual case are entered; and a comparator which determines a suitable method by taking into account characteristic curve fields of individual pregiven parameters, wherein different mining processes are calculated and compared with one another as a function of said rock parameters while taking into account said environment-specific parameters, said rock securement parameters and parameters relevant to operation cost structures.
 14. A method according to claim 13, wherein said parameters are entered as quantified quantities per unit of time and per unit of volume of material to be worked.
 15. A method according to claim 14, wherein cutting performance of mining apparatus is detected and stored.
 16. A method according to claim 14, wherein driving performance of mining apparatus is detected and stored.
 17. A method according to claim 14, wherein cutting and driving performance of mining apparatus is detected and stored.
 18. A method according to claim 13, wherein said rock parameters comprise cube compressive strength, tenacity and brittleness.
 19. A method according to claim 13, wherein said rock securement parameters comprise introduction of local concrete and setting of anchors.
 20. A method according claim 13, wherein said operation-related costs comprise availability, downtimes, time inputs, investment costs, and expenditures involved in logistics of different operating processes. 